


Emma's present (or past? Time travel's weird)

by kingxuppu



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Gen, Humor, IDENTITY SHENANIGANS, Time Travel, ambiguous future, parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28109382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingxuppu/pseuds/kingxuppu
Summary: Emma Agreste gets sent nearly twenty years into the past in order to be protected from a villain who is out for her blood. Emma decides to take the opportunity to spend some much needed quality time with her parents as well as to have a little fun.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Emma Agreste & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Emma Agreste & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawkmoth
Comments: 8
Kudos: 77





	1. Hold this for me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thanks the the beta for this chapter, Summersprit, who made this so amazing!  
> https://archiveofourown.org/users/Summersprit

Marinette woke up to what was supposed to be a normal day. Her alarm wailed off, but she got up after only the first round of rings. Adrien was most likely already here to walk her to school, and she didn’t want to leave him waiting. She promptly got dressed and ready for school before heading down the stairs. Her Maman and Adrien were already eating breakfast with a third plate ready for her to enjoy.

“Morning Maman, morning Adrien!”, she greeted giving Adrien a chaste kiss before she sat down. Her boyfriend's gaze lingered on her as she sat down.

“Marinette, can we please tell people we’re together? It’s been over a month and no one’s seemed to figure it out!”, Adrien whined his plate almost barren.

While it was true that no one had figured out they were dating yet, it took the two of them over two years to figure out each other’s identities and another three months for them to realize the other still had romantic feelings for them. Their relationship has been full of patient discoveries, so she could see how having him wait to make their relationship public; although neither of them had been particularly hiding it; could be frustrating. She on the other hand found it hilarious.

“Fine”, she mumbled as she suppressed a giggle. “If no one figures it out before the end of school today, I’ll let you make it public however you see fit”. The smile he sent her way melted her heart in a way she would never get tired of seeing. The mischievous glow in his eyes was not left unnoticed, but she decided not to comment,

Sabine just chuckled at their antics before collecting their now empty plates. “You two are just too cute, now hurry up and get going or else you won’t have much time to chat up your friends before class starts”. The young couple grabbed their bags and began their journey to school hand in hand.

* * *

“Which option do you like better? I could either send out an Instagram post right before class ends announcing you as my girlfriend, or I could just plant one on you as soon as the final bell rings.”

He was pleased with himself that much was clear to see. Even still he couldn’t contain his mirth as they neared the school building. He was such a dork and she loved every bit of it.

“You could do both”, she commented while shrugging her shoulders. “I mean our class has a record of being dense. It may take two tries for them to understand that you’re serious and not being ‘extra-friendly’ like everyone’s been saying.” They just laughed as they made their way up the stairs and towards their homeroom class unaware of what was waiting for them.

Opening the door, both off-duty heroes froze at the sight that laid before them. In the front of their class stood Bunnyx, looking to be slightly older than the last time they last saw her. She was tapping her foot impatiently next to an open burrow. Once she caught sight of them, she hastily reached into the portal and pulled out a young girl with a metal bowl over her head which was quickly pulled off and thrown back into the burrow by the older heroine.

“Took you two long enough. This is your daughter, Emma”. She practically shoved the child toward her parents. “She’s being targeted by a villain, long story, but I have to get back to the fight. I have one more stop to make but I’m leaving her here for now. I’ll be back in a few days. Maybe a week, or three. One… two months tops! See you soon!” Not even waiting for a response she hopped back through the burrow which closed behind her, leaving a frozen couple, a stunned and confused class, a teacher; who looked to be in need of the nearest bottle of alcohol available, and one fourteen-year-old blonde girl with bluebell eyes from the future.

“I know you’re really confused, but aunt Bunnyx—”.

Before she could get the rest of her explanation out, Adrien wrapped her in a tight hug letting the tears fall freely down his face.

“I’m a father. I’m going to be a father. Marinette, we’re going to be parents!” The utter relief flowing from Adrien’s voice was enough to shake Marinette out of her shocked state. She pulled her daughter, and her boyfriend into her embrace. She would worry about the situation later, but right now all she wanted to do was enjoy this joyless occasion. Besides she would have time to freak later.

“Of course, we are going to be parents, we already talked about this my prince.”

“You’re not just any dad, you’re the best dad in all of Paris!” The young teenager looked at him with such pride that he couldn’t help but plant a light kiss onto her forehead. After he did, he was finally able to get a good look at her. The Graham de Vanily genes came through stronger than ever. She looked stunningly like his mother, save for the freckles that ran across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, and her eyes which she clearly inherited from her mother.

“You have no idea how much that means to me, Emma.” The new family held onto each other for a few minutes more before the class erupted into absolute chaos.

“Ahhhhhh!”

“You have a kid and you’re not even panicking!?”

“My prince?!”

“Are you dating?”

“That kid’s from the future! Time travel exists?!”

To the class's credit, Marinette and Adrien had figured this was how they would have reacted when they announced their relationship today, so with the added bonus of their child from the future, they were handling the news pretty well. Despite that, they needed the classroom quiet so they could explain.

“Excuse me!” Adrien shouted, one hand on Marinette’s shoulder and the other on Emma’s. “Yes, Marinette and I are dating. We haven’t been exactly subtle about it, it’s just that no one noticed it until”, he dramatically coughed, “Outside forces intervened. We have no idea what could be happening in the future that would make Bunnyx bring her here, but we are going to take care of her by any means necessary.”

“She may be from the future, but she is still our daughter,” Marinette added, her voice just as firm and proud as Adrien’s. “And on a more important note, asking her questions about the future should be avoided at all costs. We have no idea how that information could affect the future”.

She turned to look at Emma who she just now realized was wearing a backpack; another thing for her to worry about later, and in a far more caring voice asked, “Is there anything you would like to add before we take you home… Unless that’s a problem Mr. Boudet?”

“No, No, please. Everyone take the day off. I think we all have a lot to process.” The teacher added. “Teaching the akuma class was not worth the raise”, they quickly mumbled to themselves. Marinette motioned for her daughter to began speaking.

“Hi, I’m Emma. And I know more than you.” Adrien snorted at that. “I’ll see you around depending on how long I’m here for so, bye!” Marinette couldn't help but chuckle at her daughter’s cheekiness even in circumstances as strange as these.

The three of them were making their way out of the classroom when Emma stopped them. “Oh, one more thing. If you could keep this a secret that would be great”, she told the class, her words less of a question and more a statement.

The school day had barely begun, and now they were heading back to the Dupain-Cheng bakery where they would have to explain everything to the hopefully, more than understanding set of new grandparents. Emma was happily holding both her parents’ hands as they walked home; she wished she had more quiet moments like this back home, but paparazzi always found a way to ruin them unless they were in costume.

* * *

Gabriel Agreste was working on a few designs for the upcoming summer line when a white portal suddenly flashed in front of him, startling him away from his computer. “Nooroo! Dark-“

“Shut it Hawkmoth, I’m not here to fight!” Her words caught his attention, but he did not let his guard down as the hero stepped out of the portal and into his study. With one hand covering his miraculous, he watched the blue and white-clad woman carefully.

“If you know who I am and have the ability to go anywhere in time, why not take my miraculous? Or better yet keep this whole mess from happening in the first place by stopping my wife from falling into her magic-induced coma?” He asked as he tried to work the woman into a corner.

“That’s your problem”, the redhead declared. “Actions have consequences, and it seems you have yet to learn that”. The man scowled at Bunnyx’s assumption. “I am here to let you know that I had to bring your granddaughter here from the future to keep her safe. She is aware of who you are and what you’re doing, but she will not attempt to take your miraculous. She is like family to me, and if you hurt her; in any way, I will make sure you pay the price. Do you understand me?” Her gaze was cold, enough to intimidate anyone who dared to challenge her word.

And her words were certainly having an effect on Gabriel Agreste, the man who quivered in the presence of no one. He was having difficulty fully comprehending the knowledge, and the weight of her threats. But he eventually pulled both hands behind his back before answering her.

“If you are bringing family to me, I will treat her as such”.

“No”, she answered coldly as she approached him, invading his personal space in the process. “You are going to treat her better than family, she will not endear anything close to what you are currently putting your son through. Did I make myself clear?” The question was rhetorical, and yet it still demanded an answer.

“Crystal”.

Bunnyx took a few moments to study the man and his response before departing back into her burrow.

* * *

Sabine was working the counter and she was wrapping up an order for a customer when she caught sight of Adrien and her daughter walking in, between the two a child no older than fourteen clutter to their hands. She didn’t recognize the girl, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity. “Hey sweeties I wasn’t expecting you to be back from school so soon, did something happen?”

“Ummm” The newfound parents spoke in unison both looking towards the other, silently hoping for the other to take the lead in explaining the situation. That was until Emma spoke up.

“Hey, Grand-mѐre I’m your granddaughter from the future!” Emma announced cheerfully making both her parents’ checks burn a crimson red, as Sabine and the customer froze at her words.

“Honey” Tom calls from the back, his voice getting steadily closer. “You would not believe what I thought I just heard I…” The large man finally made his way to the front of the store and made eye contact with Emma who waved happily.

“Hi, Grand-pѐre!” Tom just stared at her speechless for a few moments before slowly retreating into the back of the bakery.

“Maman, I’m going to take Emma and Adrien up to my room for a quick family meeting. Give us like ten minutes and then feel free to join us.” Marinette said, trying to mask the pure fear that coursed through her very being. The three of them made their way up to her room where Marinette promptly began screaming into the nearest pillow.


	2. Confronting the grandparents PT 1.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien Marinette and Emma discuss the situation they find themselves in before bringing in the new Dupain-Cheng grandparents into the fold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks for my beta for this chapter, cherrybomb_marichat!

“Ok, now that I’ve had a few moments to scream and internally panic,” Marinette began with a somewhat forced cheeriness. “I have a few questions for you, if you don’t mind answering Emma”. The girl in question was leaning into her father’s side as they sat on the chaise while Marinette sat in her computer chair which was moved closer to them.

“I’ll answer what I can. Don’t worry about spoilers”, she said already knowing what her mother was going to say, “aunt Alix taught me everything I need to know about time travel so I would be prepared if something like today happened”. She smiled at her mother happily.

“Is that why you have a backpack?” Adrien asked.

“It’s my time travel bag! All the heroes have one and their kids too”, the girl proclaimed with a smile. showing that she had several outfits as well as some toiletries and cash.

“Please tell me time travel isn’t going to be so common that people have travel bags prepped”. Marinette pleaded hoping that her daughter being here would be the most they’d have to deal with time shenanigans.

Something flickered across Emma’s face that only Marinette could see, but they could both hear the pain in her voice as she continued speaking in a lower voice. “It-It’s a pretty recent procedure that Bunnyx came up with after…” She closed her eyes shaking her head trying to forget what happened, the evil that hurt her was purely mortal, nothing the ladybugs could fix. They could never fix trauma in the first place.

“Hey, Emma I’m here, we’re here. Are you ok?” Adrien tried to soothe her as he pulled her closer into himself but neither of them knew what happened, nor could they in order to keep the timeline intact. Emma was able to slow her panicked breathing and she buried herself further into Adrien’s loving arms.

“I-I…” She paused, hoping to find the right words without divulging too many details “something happened a few years ago and a lot changed after that. One of those things is everyone being prepared for time travel relocation, ready to go at any time, another being I was either always watched by a hero or had a miraculous myself, sometimes both”. Adrien and Marinette both shared a sad look, a silent question of ‘what happened?’ passed between them.

“Well, you aren’t going to be leaving our sight while you’re here. We will keep you safe, by whatever means necessary”. Adrien promised. They could see the tears forming in her eyes, unsure what type of tears they are but she quickly shook her head clearly about to say something before a hesitant knock came from the trap door of the room.

“Uh, we closed up the bakery, so if we could be a part of this family meeting since we apparently have a granddaughter now?” Sabine asked tentatively, still trying to process the news that Emma so casually delivered not too long ago.

Marinette looked between her mother, her daughter and her future husband before letting out a defeated sigh. “Yeah, the three of us still have a lot to talk about, but we need to figure out a few things with you too; we’ll be down in a minute or two”. Sabine looked between the three teenagers sitting in her daughter’s room with a careful eye before lowering the trap door and returning to the living room.

“I know this is a weird request” Emma began “but can the three of us stay in papa’s room while I’m here?” Adrien and Marinette look at each other with a bit of confusion, their faces a matching fiery red.

“Um, I highly doubt that father would allow it, but can I ask why?” Adrien hated having to ask his father or anything, when he saw him that is, but he would at least like to have some sort of reason for having his daughter and girlfriend share his room. If father had his way Marinette and Emma would stay at the Dupain-Cheng household while Adrien stayed even further isolated from his family.

“I get nightmares, bad ones”. Emma diverted her gaze to the empty floor. “I haven’t slept in my own room for a few years now ‘cause of it; when I stay with you, I- I don’t get them as often cause I know you’re protecting me.” Silence hung in the air for a few moments as they processed her words.

“Let’s talk to your grandparents about that, and we’ll see what they have to say. How’s that sound Emma?” Marinette conceded. The idea of sharing a room with Adrien for however long Emma would be staying with them gave her a type of panic that she would need to work out with Alya at some point.

The three of them made their way down the steps where Tom and Sabine both sat near motionless on the couch waiting for them. Marinette really wished she thought about how she was going to tell her parents about this but there were other priorities. Adrien hoped he wouldn’t be threatened by Tom since he literally brought her sixteen-year-old daughter home this morning with her granddaughter. Emma was just happy to see her grandparents looking much younger than the last time she saw them, which was expected because time travel was still nice.

“Maman, papa, this is Emma, Me and Adrien’s daughter from the future, your granddaughter. If I remember correctly, she’s being targeted by a villain for some reason and so she’ll be staying here for the time being”. Marinette introduced, hoping to get her parents back to their normal selves. After a few long moments with his gaze shifting between his daughter, his future son-in-law and his future daughter, Tom shook his head violently before standing up and pulling Emma into a tight hug.

“Sorry, I just needed a few minutes to process everything.” He let go of Emma who was laughing at his antics and looked down at the little girl with an arched brow. “So… Time travel?”

“Yeah, in the future there’s a time travel hero and she needed to protect me, so she sent me here!” Emma cheerfully answered. That shook Sabine out of her shock, and she came over to hug her as well.

“Well, if one of the heroes of Paris brought you here, then we’ll make sure to take care of you.” She said with her normal calm but happy attitude. Tom and Sabine hugged Emma tightly as Marinette and Adrien watched the heartwarming display.

“So, I’m guessing you’ll be staying with us while you’re here, right?” Tom asked, happy as could be. “We could either set you up in Marinette’s room or put you in our guest room once we clear it out a bit”.

“I actually wanted to stay with maman at papa’s place.” This gave the grandparent’s pause; they shared a concerned look which prompted Emma to continue. “I get really bad nightmares and we tried everything to get rid of them, including various family recipes and techniques from both the Dupain-Cheng side of the family, and the Agreste-Graham De Vanily side. The only thing that was even slightly effective was sharing a room with my parents, and even that doesn’t fully work.”

Everyone shared a sad look, all eyes shifting around and meeting each other at least once. Sabine eventually took the lead in the conversation. “As long as the three of you come by for lunch or dinner at least every other day, it’s fine by us.” She shifted her focus to Adrien. “Make sure it’s alright with your father first though before you bring Marinette over already packed to stay there”, Adrien nodded in understanding, still trying to figure out the best way to break all of this to his father since he isn’t the biggest fan of the heroes in the first place. If he heard about a hero handing Adrien his daughter from the future, he was certain to be unhappy.

“We’ll see what he says when we get there”. Marinette announced before turning her attention to her daughter. “Sweetie, why don’t you go drop your bag off in my room while your papa calls for his driver to pick us up.” Emma beamed at her mother and made her way up to the room while Adrien called the Gorilla.

“How are you holding up, dumpling?” her father asked, concern etched across his face. “We were quite shocked when all of you brought her here, but you seem to be faring better. Are you really ok?” He was almost as good at reading her as Adrien was which always made hiding her feelings difficult.

“Honestly, I’m really overwhelmed, but at the same time completely ecstatic. I’ll probably meet up with Alya later today so I can properly freak out and let everything sink in because,  _ my god, _ my daughter is in my room right now. But, above all else I just want to make sure she’s safe”. Her parents sent approving smiles, confident that she was going to a great parent, even if only temporarily.

“Alright”, Adrien began after hanging up the phone “My bodyguard will be here shortly, and he knows that I’m bringing Marinette and another guest”. At that time Emma came down the stairs and wrapped both her parents up in a warm hug surprising them both. “Hey! What was that for?” He asked cheerfully, never one to turn down a hug (unless of course it was from Lila or a rabid fan).

“I’m just happy, you both work really hard back home and now I’ll get to spend some time with you before you are famous”, she smiled happily before correcting her word choice “well more famous than you already are”. Marinette and Adrien didn’t hesitate to wrap their arms around her and they both made a silent promise to spend as much time with her as possible.

* * *

Despite the gorilla’s confusion with the new girl’s presence, they arrived at the Agreste mansion without incident. Adrien still had no idea how he was going to tell his father about Emma and how he got here based on how much he seemed to dislike their alter egos. As they opened the door Nathalie greeted them confusedly. “Welcome back Adrien, Marinette,” She eyed the younger girl suspiciously, her heart began aching as she saw how similar she looked to a young Emilie “I got a call from your teacher about class being canceled today due to a family emergency. I expected you to enjoy the day with your friends; your father hasn’t been informed about what I was told or the fact that you’re here so if you would like to take advantage of the situation, he won’t know a thing.” She let a small smile grace her feature, a rare occurrence these days, but she still liked to help Adrien get out from his father’s thumb every now and then.

“Thank you, Nathalie, but I have to talk to my father. You see the family emergency was actually ours, meet my daughter, Emma”, Adrien introduced her as calmly as he could despite his racing heart. Emma just cheerfully waved at Nathalie, she’d only met her once or twice, but was always spoken highly of every time she was mentioned.

Nathalie couldn’t help the way her eyes bugged out of their sockets at the revelation and realization that Emma looked so much like a young Emilie because she was her granddaughter. She must have made some sort of sound or motion for them to come in as the three teenagers made their way past her and towards Gabriel’s study. Adrien drew in a deep breath before knocking on the large doors.

“Come in, I’ve been expecting you.”


	3. Confronting the grandparents PT 2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel meets Emma and convinces him to let the newfound family stay in the mansion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks for my beta for this chapter, cherrybomb_marichat!

“Come in, I’ve been expecting you”. Such simple words never felt so terrifying before to the older teenagers. Emma however, felt no such fear and walked into the office happy as could be despite the disbelief laid on her parents’ faces.

“Grand-pѐre!” She cried as she bounded into the recluse who stumbled back from the sudden collision. When he finally got a look at the young girl who crashed into him he simply froze. Standing in front of him was his granddaughter. She looked so much like Emile, from her blonde hair put into a side braid, to the smile that melted his heart since he was a teenager, a smile he fought daily to see. But the biggest difference was her eyes, although they weren’t the stunning green he remembered, they still reminded him of her. “Bunnyx did tell you I was coming right?” she asked since his reaction was throwing her off.

“Yes, yes she did”. He had to regain his composure after his momentary lapse unbecoming of an Agreste. “I’m glad to welcome you into the family…” He drew out his pause since her name was still unknown to him.

“Emma”. Marinette answered, “I always wanted to name my daughter Emma, and I guess I’ll get my wish eventually.” Gabriel looked up, his eyes meeting Marinette’s timid gaze as she stepped closer to her daughter.

“Marinette, it’s good to hear that you will become part of my family one day.” The compliment brought a smile to her lips. “Although I am surprised to be hearing news about grandchildren so soon, I suppose time travel does warrant an exception to my expectations.” Marinette and Adrien couldn’t help but blush at the insinuation he put into his words.

“Ewww, don’t talk about my parents like that!” Emma complained as she covered her ears; her face turned into a grimace at the thought which just caused her parents to blush even harder.

“Um not to be rude, father,” Adrien began after recovering from his embarrassment. “But you do understand this isn’t a dream or something right? Your granddaughter from the future is standing right in front of you and you’re acting… well nice. Are you feeling well?” Marinette tried her best to hide her laugh from Gabriel but was not successful.

“Yes, son. I understand that Emma is my granddaughter. I am  _ being _ nicer because the time traveler stopped by and gave me some…  _ encouragement  _ and forewarning about the situation and how to deal with it”. He said in the most diplomatic way possible.

Emma walked back to hug Marinette before stage whispering to her mother “What he means to say is that Bunnyx stopped by after she dropped me off; she threatened and warned him to treat me well”. The two of them began giggling at her comment, Adrien let out a slight chuckle while his father turned away acting as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

“Father, there is the matter of where Emma will be staying while she’s here that we need to discuss”, Adrien said, still unsure how to breach the topic of sharing a room with Marinette and Emma.

“Papa, I’ll convince him to let Maman and me stay with you. But I need to talk to him alone, ok?” Emma interjected hoping to convince everyone else that this was a good idea.

“Are you sure sweetie? I’m sure if we explained the situation he would agree”, Marinette asked, still not completely trusting the man after how he’s treated Adrien in the past. 

“I’ve got it, plus there are a few things Bunnyx needed me to tell Grand-pѐre so I’ll do that while we talk.” She reassured and shooed her parents out of the room, and they went to Adrien’s room to wait until Emma or his father called them back. Once the door to his room was closed Emma turned to her grandfather with a serious yet slightly playful expression. “Ok, miraculous discussion first since they are more likely to try and listen in on us later on than right away.”

“That’s wise; so you know I’m Hawkmoth.” It wasn’t a question, but Emma nodded anyway.

“I can’t tell you how or why I know but that’s not what I need to discuss with you right now. Don’t try to akumatize my parents it doesn’t end well for anyone.” She looked deadly grim, but the villain just scoffed at her.

“You mean they’d win?”

“No, I mean papa was the only living thing left on earth less than a minute after he became akumatized. Princess Justice razed Paris in a sea of fire that killed everyone not transformed with a miraculous. Cat Noir tried to talk her down because he couldn’t fight her, and Ladybug was already dead; he didn’t last long. She then found your lair and tor-'' she turned away blinking away tears and steading her breath “she tortured you for days. Bunnyx had to fix those timelines so they no longer happened”.

Calling Marinette’s akumatized form Princess Justice gave her enough credibility in his eyes to trust her, as reluctant as he was to do so. Giving up such powerful akumas may be disappointing but at least he wouldn’t cause the end of the world.

“If Bunnyx solved the problem how do you know about it?” He asked genuinely curious due to lack of understanding of time travel. In his mind once he wished for Emilie to have not found the peacock miraculous no one would have any memories of the previous timeline. He would have never been a villain, wouldn’t have to remember all the pain he put people through.

“Bunnyx didn’t solve the problems alone. Let me ask you this Grand-pѐre, what do you think finally got papa to notice Marinette as more than just a friend?” Gabriel’s eyes widened as he took in what she implied. “Papa’s actually lucky, he helped Chat Noir with Princess Justice almost four months ago, Maman had to deal with it over a year ago and she couldn’t tell a soul about it.”

After taking a few moments to process everything that his granddaughter has said he let out a slow breath and centered himself so that he didn’t show excessive emotion. “Very well, I will not attempt to akumatize them in the future, and I won’t try to akumatize you while you’re here either.” That made Emma’s face brighter considerably and she quickly hugged him.

“Now that that’s out of the way, my Maman and I are going to be staying here with Adrien. Grand-mѐre suggested that Maman not pack until you agreed to it, but I know you will.” She happily announced much to his confusion.

“I’m sorry but letting Adrien share a room with his girlfriend isn’t going to happen in my house. If the tabloids got wind of that all hell would break loose do you understand?” He couldn’t even imagine what the media would do if someone found out that Marinette was staying with Adrien, much less that their daughter was with them. Without the proper time-traveling context of the situation, that could be misconstrued in so many ways.

“Listen, I get nightmares, bad ones, and I get them often. We’ve tried everything we could that wouldn’t cause me harm, but I still have to deal with it. Sharing my parents’ bed has made the nightmares few and far between, but if I don’t I rarely get a peaceful sleep. And trust me, I know more about tabloids than you would think.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why do you get nightmares?”

Emma thought for a moment about the harm it could do to the timeline. “Just promise me you won’t tell my parents”. He gave a single nod to her. Taking up as much courage as she could muster, she began.

“My bodyguard called in sick one day...”

*

“Look Adrien, I don’t really trust your father either but clearly Emma had something to tell him.” Marinette placated trying her best not to think about Gabriel possibly breaking her spirit with just a few words.

“I left her alone, with my father. The last time someone I cared about was left alone with my father Nino got banned from the house which then got him akumatized.” He rambled trying his best not to walk down and join his daughter and father.

“I’m surprised you’re taking this whole kid from the future deal so well.” Plagg nonchalantly added as he ate a slice of camembert. “None of my previous kits had to deal with Fluff’s madness before.”

“You know they’ve had to grow up a lot faster than most Plagg.” Tikki said sitting on Marinette’s head.

“And we’re going to do everything in our power to make sure Emma doesn’t have to grow up nearly as quickly as we did”, Marinette assured her motherly kwami. “Right Adrien.”

“Right.” He said with a sigh. He was about to continue talking when they heard a large thud and shattering glass along with his father wailing. Rushing down the stairs untransformed they burst into the atelier. The sight before them was not what they were expecting. Gabriel’s monitor was ripped from its station and thrown into a nearby wall while the man himself let out wet angry pants not even attempting to hide behind a stoic face.

“You two can stay here.” He cried through his tear-stained face and focused his attention on his son “Make sure she is always with one of you. From father to father, protect her!” Adrien nodded fervently although his and Marinette’s feet were frozen onto the floor, their eyes focused on the sight that laid before them. Emma slowly guided her parents out of the room while Gabriel broke down even further.

“Come on Papa, he’ll be fine. He just needs time to process everything.” She said slowly, absently wiping the tears from her own red eyes.

“What did you tell him?” Marinette asked softly, sure that her answer would scare her.

“I told him why I have nightmares as you could probably guess it’s not a happy story.” She answered once her eyes were drier. “Um can we have Lunch with Uncle Luka and Aunt Kagami. I haven’t seen them in almost two years”. She said with as much cheer as she could after reliving the worst day of her life.

Adrien still seemed frozen by his father’s reaction, only moving thanks to Emma’s guiding hand. Marinette, however shaken she was, was still able to answer her daughter. “Sure thing, I could use the distraction, and I think Adrien could too.” The three of them walked out of the mansion hand in hand, Marinette calling Luka and Adrien texting Kagami to meet them for lunch which was rapidly approaching.

*

Nathalie approached the atelier wearily, still processing Emma’s existence and not particularly wanting to deal with the aftereffects of Gabriel’s outburst. “Sir?” She hesitantly asked unsure of how to handle the situation. Nathalie watched as Gabriel picked himself off the floor and wiped the dust off his pants as he slowed his breathing back to a normal rate.

He spoke in as normal a voice as he could then eyes not meeting his assistants questioning gaze. “Please have the car ready for me in five minutes, I will be finishing today’s work at the office. Have somebody come and replace my monitor and fix the hole in the wall so I can return to working in my atelier by the day after next”. The sorrow that lingered in his voice wasn’t missed by Nathalie; she couldn’t help but wonder what his granddaughter could have said to him to cause such a reaction.


End file.
